What Fiction are you reading this week, Sept. 13, 2020?

[hermetic]

Reading Stone Mattress, a short fiction collection by Margaret Atwood. She describes the pieces in this collection as "tales" rather than short stories, as they draw from the mythical and fantastical aspects associated with fables and fairy tales. I am absolutely loving this. It's about writers and poets; it's funny and sad and quite fascinating.

I am also reading You Don't Have to Say You Love Me, a memoir by Sherman Alexie who, coincidentally, is also a writer and a poet. While memoirs aren't supposed to be fiction, Alexie addresses this in the opening pages by questioning how much of what we remember is actually factual. So, there's that....

Now listening to David Rosenfelt's One Dog Night. A cold case turns white hot when defense attorney Andy Carpenter takes on a client arrested for the arson murder of twenty-six people. Andy soon learns that the long-ago event that could destroy his client's life is only the beginning of an ongoing conspiracy that grows more deadly by the day. Good story. Love the court scenes. And the dogs.

What books are fascinating you this week?

[SheltieLover]

1. Killing Bridezilla

By Laura Levine. It is a light read, basically devoid of substance. Just a way to kill time.

I really enjoyed the 2 most recent Joe Grey books last week, but was heartbroken to learn the author is 92 and she will not add to the collection.

[hermetic]

6. Yeah,

I was sorry to hear that, too. But hey, at 92 you might think you deserve a bit of time off. Bless her heart, I hope she sticks around for a while longer yet.

[SheltieLover]

18. I wish her well, also, of course!

But the ending of Cat Over the Moon was the absolute ultimate cliff hanger!

Who knows, perhaps she wanted to fill readers' imaginations with possibilities?

Personally, I hope she sells the rights to continue to the series. It is truly unique.

Glad to see you are enjoying another Rosenfelt!

[murielm99]

2. I am reading

Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel. It is historical fiction, sequel to Wolf Hall.

This trilogy is about Thomas Cromwell. This book is about the downfall of Anne Boleyn.

Mantel is a witty and intelligent writer.

It is better right now for me to read about the bloodthirstiness and intrigue of a political era other than our own.

[hermetic]

7. I hear that

There's a lot of reading there, too. None available at my library right now but I am on the list.

[TexasProgresive]

3. A really oldie referred by a friend, "The Nine Taylors" by Dorothy Sayers.

Ms Sayerss was a favorite of my Dad. I never read one before. It is like what i find in all good fiction, a wealth of facts to fill a gap in me.
So far I've learned a bit about English bell ringing, church architecture and the draining of the Fens all the while by being entertained.

[hermetic]

9. Love Dorothy Sayers

She has written so many great things, like the Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries. Good choice.

[Srkdqltr]

4. I read the new J.D.Robb. and Melissa .McShane Book of Destiny.

Not too bad but unsatisfying for me. I'm looking for, I don't know, something. The Robb was same old same. Good reading but not as much as advertised. I do realize they are cozies so I should know better. Same goes with the McShane. I'll keep looking. I got Stone Mattress. Looks interesting.

[hermetic]

10. Oh, it is that

I am just totally wrapped up in it right now. Hope you find it as enjoyable as I am.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

5. A Secret Kept by Tatiana de Rosnay.

She's best known for Sarah's Key, which was made into a movie in 2010. That novel and movie are both excellent, and this book is very good so far.

Antoine takes his sister to a seaside resort they used to go to as children, for her 40th birthday. As they are driving back to Paris, the car goes off the road. The sister is badly injured, and family secrets start coming out. So far it's very good. I think I'll read more of de Rosnay's books.

[hermetic]

11. Does sound good

Thanks for sharing.

[Midnightwalk]

8. I found my copy of the plague by camdus last week

I got most of the way through it before I misplaced it a couple of years ago. I’m starting it over.

So it’s what I’m reading but I can also recommend it.

[hermetic]

12. I have that

Every now and then I notice it in my bookcase and think that I really should give it a read again, after many, many years.

[AZ8theist]

13. Same fiction I read every week...

Trump's tweets.

[japple]

14. Whose Names Are Unknown by Sanora Babb

Originally written and slated for publication in 1939, this long-forgotten masterpiece was shelved by Random House when The Grapes of Wrath met with wide acclaim. In the belief that Steinbeck already adequately explored the subject matter, Babb's lyrical novel about a farm family's relentless struggle to survive in both Depression-era Oklahoma and in the California migrant labor camps gathered dust for decades.^B Rescued from obscurity by the University of Oklahoma Press, the members of the poor but proud Dunne family and their circle of equally determined friends provide another legitimate glimpse into life on the dust-plagued prairies of the Southwest and in the fertile, but bitterly disappointing, orchards and vineyards of the so-called promised land. Babb, a native of Oklahoma's arid panhandle and a volunteer with the Farm Security Administration in Depression-era California, brings an insider's knowledge and immediacy to this authentically compelling narrative. A slightly less political, more female-oriented, companion piece to^B The Grapes of Wrath. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

This writing is beautiful. Great descriptions of the land and the narrative rings true. I'm only 1/4 into the story and love the people like my own family.

Not a lot of time for reading these days. 2 little kittens who were tossed into a ditch are now in my care and they are both sick. Poor little mites.

[hermetic]

15. What an amazing find!

And of course it got put aside because a man already did it. I will be looking for this.

Poor little babies. I hope they pull through okay. I'm sending my love their way.

You take care out there.

[The King of Prussia]

16. "Blood on Snow" by Jo Nesbo

A thriller about a hitman set in Oslo. I'm underwhelmed so far.
On the non-fiction front it's "Long Distance Call" an anthology of music writing by Richard Williams.

After a fairly relaxed summer the Covid thing is getting frightening again here.

[hermetic]

17. Sorry to hear that

Guess it just goes to prove that we can't relax and let our guard down yet. That nasty bug is going to be with us for a while. Lord knows I would sure like to go out and do something, anything, like we used to.

Blood on Snow sounded like it might be good. It won some award. Maybe just not the sort of thing we can appreciate now, things being what they are.

Stay well.

[AmyStrange]

23. I love his Harry Hole series...

-

They're scary, but also a little funny because of the detective's name.
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[SheltieLover]

19. New mysteries

https://cozy-mystery.com/blog/cozy-mystery-news-september-2020.html

I really enjoyed Lorna Barrett's series & am happy to see a new one coming out!

Also, "The Physicist's War" looks intriguing!

Enjoy!

[hermetic]

20. Great news!

Thanks friend and fellow book lover.

[SheltieLover]

21. Yw!

[AmyStrange]

22. I just got the new book, Troubled Blood, by Robert Galbraith, and...

-

I know that's a pseudonym for J.K. Rowling, and that a lot of people here don't like her, because they think she's transphobic, but I believe she's just uncomfortable with the idea, and so am I.

I don't hate them or anything even close to that. It's just that I've lived my whole life with certain gender expectations, and it's hard to think otherwise, but that's my problem, not theirs.

To be perfectly honest, I wish I'd been born a woman, because most men just suck, including myself.

Anyway, I finished the Lisbeth Salander trilogy, and now I'm gonna read this new book.
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[hermetic]

24. Did you read the earlier ones?

Troubled Blood is the fifth in a breathtaking, labyrinthine epic. "A fiendishly complex case with leads that include tarot cards, a psychopathic serial killer and witnesses who cannot all be trusted."

That sounds like my kind of story. Just between you and me, I never could get interested in the Harry Potter stories. It was like reading Mother Goose tales. Had they come out when I was young, I would have, no doubt, loved them. I do plan to read these newer ones, though.

[AmyStrange]

25. I own and have read all them, except...

-

the newest one.

One of the reasons I like the series is because my Dad lost his leg in a freak accident, and it makes me appreciate how much trouble he had just walking around like Strike. I never realized things like that before, plus the romance is freakin' intriguing as hell.

Solving the mysteries is just an added bonus.

I actually like the Harry Potter series, but what do you expect when one of the heroes in my book, a talking cat, is straight from an Alice in Wonderland story or fairly tale like Puss in Boots.
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